Released last November, *Visions* is the second novel by a duo of writers. Through a couple in crisis, S.L. Grey creates a thriller where suspense reigns and tension rises progressively. A detour to South Africa with this novel!
Mark and Steph, a couple with a young daughter, are struggling to recover from a burglary. They decide to take a short getaway to Paris to forget this difficult time. They have arranged a home exchange with a French couple, but upon their arrival, things don’t go as planned… The apartment is small and dark, the building is deserted, the neighbor is crazy, and there’s a somewhat heavy atmosphere. Despite this, Steph and Mark try to make the best of their stay.
S.L. Grey is actually a writing duo composed of Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg, both South African and already authors of *Underground* (Fleuve Editions, 2017). With *Visions*, they present us with a thriller tinged with the fantastic. Indeed, from the start, you feel that a kind of dark force is at work, specifically targeting Mark, Steph’s husband, whose past looms over this story like a shadow.
The mechanics of the suspense novel work perfectly, and the authors have skillfully depicted the decay of a couple, their pitfalls, their (often false) certainties. The descriptions of Cape Town in South Africa and the insecurity prevailing there actively contribute to the unstable atmosphere of this thriller. However, some character reactions are not always credible, and the authors’ oscillation between two styles (psychological thriller and fantastic/horror thriller) prevents either theory from being fully developed.
*Visions* is a good thriller, and while some elements may not completely convince, the oppressive atmosphere and the couple’s struggles make it a terribly effective page-turner.
